Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Tomorrow, May 26th, is a very important day in the Northwest Territories. The last government recognized May 26th as National Residential School Reconciliation and Healing. The point that I want to raise this morning is that tomorrow is a day that this government is the only government in Canada that has recognized this day for residential school survivors.
In the Northwest Territories we affect over 10,000 students, and many communities in the Northwest Territories are feeling and healing on a recovery and healing through the residential schools. This is a chapter in our life as Aboriginal people and people in the communities that was sadly enforced by policies of the past governments and the federal government, and for whatever reasons they were operated by the churches. It had a huge impact on our people and today we’re feeling the effects of it through the amount of alcoholism, the amount of addictions, the amount of issues dealing with families and even with our languages.
Tomorrow gives the acknowledgement to the students, to the families to say we no longer want to be the part of a victim; we want to be part of the people that stood for something that you were okay and that what was done to you may not be done anymore in the future.
This government needs to be applauded for taking a stand to acknowledge. I know June 11th, when I was working, I never thought I would hear a Prime Minister stand up in the House of Parliament and say on behalf of his government that he was sorry to the Aboriginal people, to me when I was six years old living in residential school.
We have to look at this and I look forward to this government doing something to commemorate tomorrow and future years as to what we can do to begin the reconciliation process and strengthen that process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
